Asynchronous USB DAC and USB cable quality


I have converted to PC audio about 2 years ago and enjoying the hobby. I recently upgraded my DAC from a Benchmark DAC1 HDR to a DAC2 HGC mainly to download DSD files. I am now using a 'regular' Belden USB printer cable purchased at Office Depot which sounds great. I have performed A/B comparison between Toslink fiber input and USB input using well recorded Red Book files and could not hear any differences, which I kind of expected.

The reasoning behind this was that whatever jitter is generated by the PC/USB/Toslink cable is re-clocked by the Benchmark DAC which uses asynchronous clocking. However, would I gain anything sonically by purchasing an audio grade USB cable like a Furutech GT2-USB cable? I would need about 10 feet and do not want to pay a load of money (if any benefits). The Furutech would cost about $235 for that length.
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Showing 1 response by doggiehowser

There was this aspect of testing that always bugged me.

I have tested components and cables in most dealers' setups where there were always noticeable improvements/changes when we swapped some things out.

But at home, the differences were always much more subtle.

Recently I have been helping a friend set up a demo room for his speakers and I think I might have figured out why this was the case. Room acoustics.

My rooms had none/little. I had carpets/shelves and furniture in the room which reduced the amount of echoing but I have never treated the room with foam etc.

In my friend's shop, my friend used some simple foam/bass traps on the side walls, front/rear walls and ceilings. And suddenly, the changes we made became very noticeable.

All this is a very longwinded way of answering your question - would the Furutech cable make a difference? It depends.

Take the room out of the equation and what I've noticed it is that changes upstream in your system becomes much more noticeable.